Effective against

"You got the Fire Arrow! Set it to (C) and your arrows will be powered up! If you hit your target, it will catch fire."

— In-game description

Fire Arrows (炎の矢,Honō no Ya?) are recurring items in the Legend of Zelda series. As their name implies, Fire Arrows are arrows enchanted with fire that damages enemies and immolates certain objects. Makeshift Fire Arrows can be created by shooting an arrow through a torch, even in games that do not feature Fire Arrows as a item.

Contents

Appearances

Fire Arrows are one of three special arrow types Link can obtain for the Fairy Bow. Each Fire Arrow deducts a small amount of magic from Link's Magic Meter. When a Fire Arrow hits its target, it momentarily bathes the impact point in flames. This makes it quite useful for lighting torches and melting ice, as well as for dealing significant damage to enemies. Fire Arrows are particularly useful in areas where Din's Fire cannot reach, such as a far-off torch. While Fire Arrows make it easier for Link to progress in certain areas, they are not required to complete the game.

Fire Arrows are obtained by firing a regular arrow at the rising sun while standing atop a platform above the island housing the Water Temple in Lake Hylia. If done correctly, the Fire Arrow will appear on a distant landmass with two pillars. This process will yield a Magic Jar if repeated. The landmass may be reached by swimming to its location, though this can only be done once the Water Temple has been completed and water restored to the lake. As an alternative, Link can play the "Scarecrow's Song" in order to summon Pierre, who can then be used as a Longshot target as a means of transport.

Fire Arrows are similar both in appearance and function to those from Ocarina of Time. One of the special arrow types Link can obtain for the Hero's Bow, they are found in Snowhead Temple after the defeat of the mini-bossWizzrobe, and are needed to begin the battle with the dungeon's boss, Goht.

After Link learns the "Ballad of Gales" and Tetra's true identity is revealed, he can travel to the Mother & Child Isles on a cyclone and speak to the Queen of Fairies, who gifts him with both the Fire and Ice Arrows. Fire Arrows are used to gain access to Ice Ring Isle, where the Iron Boots are found. They can also be used to light torches and burn away wooden barriers, as well as to melt ice barricades or free enemies encased in ice. Additionally, they are powerful even against tougher enemies—notably, winged Mothulas, which can be defeated with a single Fire Arrow. Enemies knocked back by a Fire Arrow will set other enemies on fire if they come into contact with them while falling backward.

Fire Arrows will instantly kill most ice-based enemies such as Blizzrobes, Ice Wizzrobes, Ice Keese, White Chuchus, Ice-Breathing Lizalfos, and Frost Pebblits. They can be used to burn off the wooden greaves that Blue Hinox wear to protect their legs. Fire Arrows can also be used to temporarily cool down Frost Talus allowing Link to climb up them to reach their Ore Deposit weak point. Bomb Arrows can be used to inflame dry grass, enemies, and wooden objects. They can also be used to lit Campfires, cooking pots, and stationary torches. Unlike makeshift fire arrows created by lighting normal arrows on fire, Fire Arrows do not burn up if drawn for too long and can still be used even while it is raining, though their ability to light things on fire dampened somewhat. Interestingly, Fire Arrows are not the only arrows that can inflict fire damage as Bomb Arrows are considered fire-based explosives and thus function like an explosive version of Fire Arrows in Breath of the Wild. Unlike Bomb Arrows, Fire Arrows can also be used in volcanic temperatures without any problem, though this is generally unnecessary as drawing a normal arrow in such temperatures will automatically turn it into a makeshift fire arrow as the wooden arrow is lit on fire by the volcanic heat just like other wooden equipment.

Link can also take a picture of a fire arrow with the Camera Rune to add it to the Hyrule Compendium where it appears as entry number 345 in the Compendium's equipment section. Under the Additional Effects section of its Hyrule Compendium entry, Fire Arrows are stated to "Ignites flammable targets, causing extra damage."

Enemies

Enemies will occasionally wield Fire Arrows. If he is hit, Link will ignite and suffer fire damage. Fire Arrows will also set any wielded wooden equipment on fire, in particular a wooden shield used to block them.

Cooking

Fire Arrows can also be used to cook by roasting ingredients. This is especially useful for creating Campfire Eggs as Bird Eggs have a change of breaking when dropped into the ground. Link can automatically obtain roasted food by killing animals with Fire Arrows.

In the development of Twilight Princess, Fire Arrows originally appeared as an item, presumably back when Twilight Princess still had a Magic system. However the removal of the magic system would of likely effected how Fire Arrows would be implemented in-game (basically requiring the developers to create an entirely new way for Fire Arrows to function without magic, which later occurred in Breath of the Wild) or it was decided to scrap them in favor of Bomb Arrows. However it still exists in the game's code and can be unlocked with a GameShark cheat.

Toon Link utilizes Fire Arrows as an alternate customization moves for the Hero's Bow in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U. They have less range than standard arrows but deal fire damage and continue to burn on the ground when fired.